Obesity `leads to heart rhythm disorder`

For the first time, it has been found that obesity directly causes electrical abnormalities of the heart.

According to cardiologist and PhD candidate Dr Hany Abed, there is growing evidence that obesity changes the structure and size of the heart muscle and the way it works and contracts, as well as its electrical function.

Abed is working with the University of Adelaide`s Centre for Heart Rhythm Disorders and the Discipline of Medicine to ascertain how obesity affects the heart and whether losing weight can actually reduce the risk of developing atrial fibrillation.